DebConf 2024 bid for Busan, Korea - Checklist
(the font style indicates the different priorities high, medium and low.)
Contents
Local team
Please name the main local team
- Jongmin Kim, Changwoo Ryu, Woohee Yang, Youngbin Han, Yeonguk Choo, Minseong Cho, Junsang Moon, Seongsoo Cho, Giyeon Bang, Gyeongtaek Kim, Doyun Shin, Jiho Park, Sangmin Lee and Prof. Ha-Joo Song
Of these people, who have been present at a previous DebConfs and who have participated as organizers and/or volunteers (the line might be quite blurry at times) of a previous DebConf?
Briefly describe their involvement in Debian and the Free Software world.
- Jongmin is a DM and Changwoo is a DD.
Youngbin and Minseong are both Ubuntu members, and actively organize Ubuntu Korean LoCo (registered local community) with Yeonguk and Junsang.
Doyun and Jiho are operating the Debian 1-tier mirror, and Gyeongtaek is operating the Debian public mirror.
Who has previous experience in organizing events? What events?
Youngbin, Yeonguk, Minseong, Junsang, Seongsoo and Giyeon have organized multiple Ubuntu conferences: UbuCon Asia (2021, 2022, 2023) and UbuCon Korea 2023
Prof. Ha-Joo Song, Jongmin and Woohee have organized multiple academic conferences: IEEE BigComp 2020, PAKDD 2017, EDB 2017, UCWIT 2018 and more.
- Jiho has organized muliple academic conferences and hackathons.
Who of your team is contributing to DebConfN-1? In which teams?
- None
Are any local team members linked (professionally/financially/personally) with any of the organizations that will provide services (e.g. venue/food/accommodation) to DebConf? (Any links can be good or bad, but they should be stated publicly.)
Prof. Ha-Joo Song is a Dean of College of ITC in Pukyong National University.
- Jongmin and Woohee are alumni of Pukyong National University.
Jongmin works for the company namely doubleO Co., Ltd. (a for-profit corporation, located in the Pukyong National University), which can provide the local fiscal host and visa invitation letters.
Choice of city / town / whatever
- Are you suggesting a city, a town, a village, a spa in the middle of nowhere?
- Busan, the second most populous and the largest port city in the Republic of Korea
- How many people live there?
- About 3.3 million, as of September 2023
- How easy/convenient is it to get computer hardware and electronic components?
- Electronics shops.
ETLAND Power Center Daeyeon near the venue (1 km away), mostly consumer electronics
- Computer hardware stores.
Gaya Computer Mall for more advanced consumers; computer parts, cables, network equipment (13 km away from the venue, 25 minutes by car, 45 minutes by metro)
- Supermarkets, etc.
- There are many supermarkets (~2) and convenience stores (~10) near the venue.
Delivery from online shopping services like Amazon or ?MediaMarkt? How long does delivery take?
There are many. Especially G-market global for foreigners as it provides an English interface in part.
- Most packages coming from Korea are delivered to Busan the next working day, when order is placed before deadline. A few membership-based services (ex. Coupang) guarantee faster (same day or early next morning) delivery for selected products.
- Electronics shops.
- How easy is it for handicapped people to move around?
- Tour spots are usually accessible. Some part of the city is not very accessible, as the city was built on many mountains and hills and some streets are fairly narrow. But the venue itself is located on flat land near the coast.
- Wheelchair-accessible and handicapped-friendly transits
- All the metro lines
- Trains (pre-arrangement required)
- Some of the in-city bus lines (35%)
- Handicapped non-friendly transits
- Inter-city bus lines
- Which is the nearest railway station?
- Railway station: "Busan station"
- Is there good connectivity by rail or coach? How much does it cost?
- Yes, Busan Station is the terminal station of the Seoul-Busan conventional and high-speed train lines.
- High-speed train (recommended, about 2.5 hours) from Seoul
- KRW 59,800 (USD 46) (or more depending on the seat class), from Seoul station
- KRW 52,600 (USD 41) (or more depending on the seat class), from Suseo station (when coming from the Southern part of Seoul)
- Cheapest conventional train (about 4.5 hours), KRW 28,600 (USD 22) from Seoul station
- Coach (about 4.5 hours), KRW 26,700 (USD 21) (or more depending on the bus class), from Seoul Express Bus Terminal
- Metro station: "Pukyong National University" (10 minutes by walk)
How long does the trip from the station to the venue take?
- 40 minutes by bus, 20 minutes by taxi depending on traffic conditions
- Which is the nearest airport?
- Gimhae International Airport (PUS)
Are there any cheap airlines flying to the chosen city (or nearby)?
- Yes, there are. But international routes to PUS are short ones from East and Southeast Asia.
- There are many international routes to Incheon International Airport (ICN). You can then transfer from ICN to PUS, or take a high-speed train.
How long does the trip from the airport to the venue take?
- 1 hour by metro or 30 minutes by taxi (when traffic condition is good) from PUS
- 4 hours by high-speed train and bus from ICN
How friendly is your country towards foreigners?
Visas: Which/how many countries' citizens require getting a visa? How hard (bureaucratic, probable) is it to get it?
South Korea has one of the most friendly visa policy among the developed countries. People from 110 countries (or regions) need no visa. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Visa_policy_of_South_Korea
- Visa required countries where DebConf19/22/23 registered people are from: Bolivia, China, Cuba, Ghana, India, Iran, Kosovo, Nepal, Nigeria, Sri Lanka, Vietnam
- In the recent 1-2 years, K-ETA and visa rejects have increased especially for tourists from Southeast Asian countries. The government is currently reviewing the system, so hopefully, there will be an improvement.
- For clear visiting purposes like conferences, the chance of visa rejects is known to be very low. Jongmin Kim has seen no visa rejected for the academic conferences he worked for organizing.
Are there any import regulations, which might affect DebConf? (e.g. a limit to the number of laptops / cheese / wine you can bring in; hard regulations for money transfers; etc.)
- Only one new laptop (product-packaged) is duty-free. No restriction on used laptops for use.
- Liquor up to 2 bottles, 2 liters, under USD 400.
- Food
- Traveler needs to declare all animal products they carry.
- For cheese, you can bring factory-sealed cheese with an information label. Or you need a quarantine certification paper, some cheese vendors give you such paper when they sell.
- You can not bring meat, eggs, or products based on them. (ex. jerky, ham, or sausage)
- You can not bring fresh plant products. (ex. uncooked seeds)
- Language: Do most people speak English? How hard is it for a foreigner to find their way around?
- In the big cities, most of the educated and young people speak English at a basic level or better, though fluency cannot always be expected.
- Using public transportation is easy. For metros, there are signs and arrival announcements in English.
- Most taxi drivers don't speak English but you can use Uber or KakaoT phone app for hailing and paying.
- Most public tour places have English information panels. Shops and restaurants near tour places usually have English-speaking staff.
- Smoking: What are the local regulations about smoking?
- Smoking, including electronic cigarettes aka vapes, is not allowed in most public indoor and outdoor places except designated smoking areas (with fines KRW 100,000 (USD 78)).
Conference Facilities
How much does it cost to rent these facilities?
- Main hall: KRW 15,000,000 for 15 days (~ USD 11,628)
- Class rooms: Free of charge
How far away are the locations from each other? (auditoriums, hacklabs, restaurant, sleeping quarters, front desk, orga spaces)
- Auditoriums, hacklabs, the Front Desk and BoF spaces are in the same building or in the connected buliding, at the second floor and the third floor.
- The dormitories are 50 to 200 meters away from the conference area.
- The cafeteria is inside the dormitories.
What kind of places are available suitable for hacklabs, workshops, ?BoFs and talks? Usually DebConf needs 2 videoed presentation talk rooms, 1 videoed BoF room, several (>=3) smaller BoF rooms, and a few (>= 2) hack labs.
The venue has 1 main hall and 8 class rooms. We can allocate 3 class rooms for special (FD, video team and storage room), and 5 class rooms for hacklab, talks, and BoFs.
Hacklabs: Main hall (for DebCamp noisy hacklab) or 2 class rooms (for silent hacklab and DebConf noisy hacklab)
Talks and BoFs: Main hall and 3 class rooms (for DebConf)
- How many people fit in each of them?
- Main hall: 700 people
- Class rooms: 70 people
How flexible are the spaces?
Can smaller auditoria be merged into a bigger one?
- No
- Are tables/chairs fixed, or can we arrange them to fit more people/give more room to the people that we need?
- Main hall: All the tables and chairs are movable.
Class rooms: They have chair attached desks (like this) which are not very useful. It's OK to move them elsewhere ourselves (but then we should move them back after).
Is the venue accessible? Note: There are more accessibility issues to bear in mind than just mobility. Is the area safe for people with any kind of disability? (There are sight and hearing-impaired people, too.) Bonus: What people is it not good for?
- It is a new building, and it is quite accessible. There are elevators between floors and wheelchair accessible toilets on every floor.
- However, there are no tactile paths or assistant equipment for sight-impaired people, so they might have difficulties.
- Is there access to all areas with ramps and/or elevators? (Note: carrying somebody over some steps is not usually an acceptable option.)
- Yes.
Are there people with experience in accessibility at the venue? Are we in contact with them?
- There is a specialized group for helping students in special needs in the university, but their cooperation is unclear.
- Are plans / blueprints with exact distances available to us (to be kept confidential on request)?
- Yes, plans are available in public. The specific blueprints can be provided on request.
What kind of audio equipment is already present in the talk rooms?
Wireless or stationary mics?
- 1 hand-held wireless mic.
Clip-on kind of mics or hand-held mics?
How many of them?
- 1 stationary mic and 1 wireless mic.
Can the video team take control of the audio equipment in the room?
- Will the hacklabs be allowed to stay open 24x7? What time schedule do they offer?
- - By default, they close at 22:00 to 07:00. The time can be loosened by negotiating.
What kind of security will be there?
- Every entrance to the university buildings has access controlled with card keys.
- The university hired security staffs patrol regularly.
- The university outsources its nighttime security to a company called CAPS. They uses cameras and sensors to watch for suspicious activities before dispatching.
Are there any limitations regarding the consumption of food / alcohol? Where do these limitations apply?
- No.
- However, in the dormitories, alcohol is prohibited.
How far is it to the nearest convenience stores / all-night restaurants?
- There are 24/7 convenience stores outside campus (7-10 mins by walk). There are convenience stores on campus but they don't sell alcohol.
- There are several all-night restaurants outside the campus (7-10 mins by walk) but the choice of food is limited at late night. There are many more choices near Gwangalli Beach (30 mins on a walk).
- No.
- Please provide pictures of the venue and accommodation.
Accommodation (video on YouTube, in Korean)
Food
How much are the meals per person per day?
- Option 1 (school dorm cafeteria): KRW 18,000 (~ USD 14) per day, KRW 6,000 per meal (~ USD 5)
- Option 2 (catering service from outside the campus): KRW 36,000 (~ USD 28) per day, KRW 12,000 per meals (~ USD 9) (estimated)
- Where will food be served? Is this near the talk rooms / the hacklabs?
- Option 1: Cafeteria inside the dorm building
- Option 2: Not decided yet, maybe in one of the class rooms
What kind of food will be served?
Option 1&2: Korean dishes, usually rice, soup and side dishes. It will be served a certain amount. If you need more, you can request it.
- Would food for vegetarian / vegan / lactose-intolerant / gluten-sensitive / religious (of any denomination) people be available?
- Option 1: Alternative meals are ready for people who don't eat meat. One or two fish menu is served as an alternative.
- Option 2: Yes for veg, religious and allergies but details to be confirmed
How many meals do we need to order to get those kinds of "special" meals?
- Option 1: None required
- Option 2: To be confirmed
Will it cost extra to get those special meals?
- Option 1: No
- Option 2: To be confirmed
Will the special meals come from a separate caterer?
Option 1&2: No
In a two week period, how much variety in food can be provided?
- Option 1: Soup and side dishes will change everyday, except rice, kimchi and small side dishes.
- Option 2: Expected to be same as option 1. To be confirmed.
Socialising
- What areas are available nearby for attendees to hack, socially? (e.g. bars, outside tables, swimming pools, coffee shops)
- There are a store and a coffee shop with indoor/outdoor tables.
- Small park with benches.
- What hours will they be open?
- Coffee shop opens at 10 a.m. and closes at 21 a.m.
Is there conference WiFi coverage in these areas?
- No. An idea is to install an outdoor antenna out through room 316 window to cover Wi-Fi around the coffee shop tables.
Network connectivity
Is the area already wired with regular network infrastructure? (much preferably: 1Gbps)
- Yes. 10 Gbps.
How much does it cost and how difficult is it to get a big internet connection? (100 Mbps at least)
- The venue building first floor FDF has 10 Gbps uplink, which is ideal, but not connected to the venue rooms.
- We need to connect fiber cables from the first floor FDF to the third floor room 316 (video team and server room).
How much work does it imply to cover the area with WiFi?
- From room 316 to the main hall : ~20 m (room 316 is in front of the main hall)
- From room 316 (3F) to the classrooms (2F) : ~80 m
- What can be done if an area isn't well covered? Are there spare APs?
- We are allowed to install our own APs in the venue building. No spare APs by university as far as we know.
If we use someone else's infrastructure, how flexible are they, regarding routing / firewall / IP ranges / public access / WiFi SSIDs / other stuff?
- We can get temporarily allocated IP addresses that will allow us to handle our own routing.
Do we have restrictions on allowed ports?
- By default, yes. But restrictions can be lifted on request.
Are we traffic-shaped? Or can we set a traffic shaper if we need so?
- No traffic shaping.
- We can't change the uplink but we are free to change devices we install ourselves.
Can we get a dedicated SSID for DebConf with static auth? Rather than per-user credentials.
- Yes for APs we install ourselves. No for existing APs and controllers.
Do we have a point of contact, who understands our needs?
Yes. We have a contact point in Information and Computer Center. We have a phone number of the KOREN help desk.
Would it be possible to set up the core network before DebCamp? (a day or two, earlier would be nicer, in order to handle problems gracefully. Additional weeks for wireless.)
- Yes.
Special rooms
server rooms:
- General conditions for the rooms
- Size
- Have they/do they need air conditioning?
- Yes they have.
- What network connectivity is available?
- 1x 1 Gbps port. Installed at the wall.
- ?x 10 Gbps ports. (After cabling from 1F)
- 10 Gbps equipment additionally required (e.g. switch or NIC).
What electrical load can they handle?
- ~ 65kW 100A
May need electric work Distribution Box
- ~ 65kW 100A
- Lockable? Who has access?
- Yes. We can get a key.
video rooms:
- General conditions for the rooms
- Size
- Seminar room (~15 people)
- Have they/do they need air conditioning?
- They have a room-controlled air conditioner.
- What network connectivity is available?
- 1x 1 Gbps port. Installed at the wall.
- ?x 10 Gbps ports. (After cabling from 1F)
- 10 Gbps equipment additionally required (e.g. switch or NIC).
What electrical load can they handle?
- ~ 4kW 20A
- Lockable? Who has access?
- Yes. We can get a key.
- Size
Front Desk:
- Where are we expecting to host the front desk? How close is it to other spaces?
An open place near the main hall. Left side and right side
- Is it lockable?
There's a lockable storage near the open place (White door at the left side).
Orga Room:
- Is there a small (10 person) room that the orga team can use for meetings and storage?
- There are several empty class rooms or storage rooms. We can use them as we need.
Meeting Room:
- Is there a small (10-person) room that can be used for private meetings? (e.g. sensitive issues)
- Probably a class room in another building.
Accommodation
How much does it cost per person per night?
- KRW 20,000 per person per night (~ USD 16).
- All rooms are for two people, so KRW 40,000 per room per night (~ USD 31).
- Dorm do not provide a bedding set (eg. pillow and blankets)
- Bedding set renting fee by outside supplier: around KRW 4,300,000 for 200 people for 2 weeks (~ USD 3,333)
Is the place where people are going to sleep near the conference facilities?
Yes. 50-100 m, 1 min by walk. https://www.openstreetmap.org/directions?engine=fossgis_valhalla_foot&route=35.13100%2C129.10401%3B35.13144%2C129.10393
Is it able to handle an uncertainty in the attendee count, until a month before the conference?
- Yes. The final attendee count has to be available a month before the conference (accommodation for more people than this count could be possible, but will be subject to availability).
Is it able to handle the change in attendance from ~20 on the first night to the expected maximum towards the end of the conference?
- Yes.
- Is it able to handle foreigners who can't speak the local languages? (i.e. do the people at the accommodation speak English?)
- We don't expect the dorm admin officers to speak in English although they actually can. However they have experience managing hundreds of international students in the university who don't speak Korean, which could be helpful.
- Local team will have control over matters and can help out in case any issue occurs. Local team can also distribute a room manual.
- There are also international students from many countries, and they could potentially help with the communication aspect.
Is accommodation check-in separate to DebConf check-in?
- No, they are the same. Local team will have to manage the room check-in as well, even at midnight.
By the dorm regulations, all the residents cannot enter the dormitory from 0100 to 0500. This will be also applied to the DebConf attendees.
Can couples (and families) be accommodated together?
- If the couples or families are grouped by the same sex, then yes. Otherwise, no.
- The dorm is separated by sex (male or female).
- Separated into two different buildings (Sejong 1-gwan) or different blocks of floors (Sejong 2-gwan).
- Not available to be mixed or go through.
- The dorm is separated by sex (male or female).
- There is a paid in-school hotel for staff. We can negotiate for conference use.
- If the couples or families are grouped by the same sex, then yes. Otherwise, no.
How many room keys would be available?
- Two keys per room. (One key per one person)
- Are there other hotels around?
Motels and cheap hotels nearby Daeyeon metro station, about 1.5 km away from the venue
- Hotels near Gwangalli beach (3 km, 25 mins = 10 mins by bus + 15 mins by walk)
Hotel Central Bay : https://www.openstreetmap.org/search?query=35.15146%2C129.11645
Hotel Homers : https://www.openstreetmap.org/way/779854658
Aqua Palace Hotel : https://www.openstreetmap.org/way/779892129
Kent Hotel Gwangalli by Kensington : https://www.openstreetmap.org/search?query=35.15427%2C129.11908
- Are there rooms ready for handicapped people? How many?
- No dedicated room for handicapped people. (Same rooms as non-handicapped people)
- For wheelchairs,
- The elevator is wheelchair-accessible.
- The room aisle is too narrow and the room is too small.
Child Care
- Will there be any child care available?
Option 1 : kid's cafes nearby where children can play all day.
- Option 2 : hiring babysitters ourselves.
- Where will it be located?
- The kid's cafe are about 1 ~ 2 km away from the venue, so it is about 10 ~ 30 minutes travel.
- What will it cost?
- typical all-day ticket fee for using the kid's cafe:
- a child (with an adult) in week : KRW 30,000 (USD 23)
- a child (with an adult) in weekend : KRW 35,000 (USD 27)
- typical all-day ticket fee for using the kid's cafe:
- What age ranges will be supported?
- Children of all ages are accepted by the kid's cafe, but typically preschool children enjoy there the best.
- During what hours will it be offered?
- Working Time : 11:00 AM to 08:00 PM
- Working Days : All days including weekend
Fun and Free time
- What leisure activities are recommended?
- There are many restaurants and bars in the downtown area.
- Gwangalli Beach and Haeundae Beach near the venue.
- There is a marine leisure facility near the venue.
- List some possible Day Trips.
Busan city tour
- Haeundae Beach, Busan Museum of Art (KRW 7,000 (USD 5)), UN Memorial Cemetery, Busan Museum, Gwangalli Beach
Tourism public transportation easily connecting Busan attractions by double-decker bus
- Water sports activity on a nearby beach
- KRW 40,000 (USD 31) to KRW 100,000 (USD 78)
Gyeongju historical sites tour
The capital of the ancient kingdom of Silla (57 BC – 935 AD). A vast number of archaeological sites and cultural properties from the capital period remain in the city.
- 1 hour by coach
- Ulsan
- Cape Ganjeolgot, Onggi Village, Ulsan Grand Park, Taehwaru Pavilion
- Are the proposed locations ready to receive people with disabilities?
- Yes for some trips.
- How expensive would they be?
- Tickets for most museums are KRW 5,000 (USD 4)to KRW 10,000 (USD 8).
- Will transport need to be organised?
- For some trips, public transportation is enough. For others, a coach needs to be organized.
Local Sponsors
Do you have a list of prospective sponsors that might be interested in helping the conference? (By providing venues, money, hardware, connectivity, etc.)
- BTO (Busan Tourism Organization) supports hosting international conferences in Busan. Up to KRW 20,000,000 (USD 15,504) of the conference cost, depending on the number of foreign and total attendees.
NIPA (National IT Industry Promotion Agency) has been sponsoring FOSS events in Korea. (GNOME Asia 2013, NetDev 2017, UbuCon Asia 2022)
- doubleO Co., Ltd.
- TBD (tech companies in South Korea)
- Have you spoken to these organisations yet, to find out if they might sponsor, and what conditions and deadlines they have? (Note that many large organisations which provide funding for events need to be approached a long time in advance.)
BTO program will be announced on February and is to be applied and evaluated on March. (2023 announce) The list of participants (name, nationality, affiliation, email address) needs to be submitted in the result report.
- No.
- Do you have promises/pledges from any of these sponsors already?
- doubleO Co., Ltd. promised to be a local fiscal host. They are also interested in providing the visa invitation letter.
Timing
When (and why) would be the best time to host DebConf at your location?
- From 21 July to 4 August
- Dorms will be available in this summer break period. They will be available also in mid-July, but the weather of late July is better avoiding the monsoon season.
- What is your backup plan if your preferred venue isn't available at that time?
- There is another national university nearby namely KMOU.
- Is there a provisional reservation in place for a particular date? When does the provisional reservation expire?
- Dorms: from 20 July to 5 August, for 400 people (100 for female bldg and 300 for male bldg)
- Main hall: from 21 July to 4 August
- Talk rooms: from 28 July to 4 August
- No expiration. We just need to make a contract before the event.